Chapter 828: The Old Trick

Germany was now tapping into its strategic oil reserves, and its demand for petroleum and other industrial raw materials was much higher than at the same point in history. This was the inevitable result of expanding domestic production capacity and modernizing the military. Tanks, trucks, planes, warships, submarines—every single one was a major oil consumer, and the number of these pieces of equipment was several times greater than in the other timeline.

“The coal-to-oil project is expanding. Besides providing some lower-quality crude oil, it can also supply the production of napalm,” another general in charge of logistics said to Akado. “Bio-refined oil is also replacing a portion of industrial-use oil. We are doing our best to improve our energy situation.”

Akado looked at the map of the Third Reich behind Rundstedt and asked slowly, “So, what are the returns on our oil investments in Libya?”

“My Führer, Libya’s infrastructure is simply too poor. The current oil extraction capacity cannot meet the demand at all. We can only use the oil there to supplement Marshal Rommel’s military operations in Egypt. As for shipping it back to the homeland, that will depend on the extent of future capacity expansion.”

Libya was, after all, Italy’s traditional sphere of influence. A portion of the oil produced there belonged to Italy and needed to be shipped back to supplement its navy. The rest was all transported to Rommel, because a large amount of oil was needed to build up for an offensive into the Middle East.

The development of Middle Eastern oil had proceeded very quickly, because it was a time of peace and had the joint investment of several of the world’s superpowers. In just a few short years, it had become one of the world’s major oil-producing regions. But Libya, as a private venture for Germany and Italy, had only begun construction and extraction after the war had started. A year had passed, but the oil production capacity had still not met the expectations of either side.

Although this oil field had eased the transport pressure in North Africa, had saved the German army a great deal of consumption, and had also deprived the few British submarines hunting in the Mediterranean of many of their prey, it still could not meet Germany’s ever-growing demand for oil. As for the North Sea oil fields, Akado was currently in the position of starving while sitting on a mountain of treasure. He knew there was oil there, but he couldn’t get it out.

As a transmigrator from the future, Akado knew exactly where Germany’s Achilles’ heel as an industrial nation lay. He knew that Germany lacked easily produced tanks and other equipment during the war, and he knew even better that in the end, Germany had missed many opportunities due to oil shortages.

That was why he had so painstakingly integrated Germany’s industrial capacity, and why he had used his own methods to change Germany’s industrial design philosophy, leading to the birth of many weapons that were easy to produce and of excellent quality. But this innovation had also plunged Germany into a vicious cycle.

The superior performance of the German army’s tanks and other heavy weapons meant that they suffered fewer losses in battle. Coupled with their excellent performance and low failure rate, these heavy weapons survived in large numbers in the brutal battlefield environment, leading to a surge in the number of German tanks.

In fact, due to Germany’s early and efficient design, with a great deal of consideration for compatibility, the waste generated from unclear development stages was almost nil. Take the weapons of the German armored forces as an example: most of the Panzer II tanks that Germany had initially deployed had either been given to allied countries or had been converted into self-propelled anti-tank guns. The modified Panzer II chassis that were still being produced in small numbers were now mainly supplied to the paratroopers as fighting vehicles.

The Panzer III had also been discontinued, but its chassis was still being produced as a carrier for self-propelled guns and assault guns, and there were even signs of an expansion in scale. The Panther tank, also due to its successful design, had always been the mainstay of the German armored forces, and its chassis had been modified into a large number of armored vehicles, including self-propelled guns and assault guns.

And the Tiger tank was the fist of the German armored forces, reigning supreme over all other tanks in the world, an invincible superweapon in the hands of the German army. It could be seen that from the production of its very first tank, Germany had never wasted any production capacity. What it produced was useful.

In addition, starting from the Panzer III, German tanks had been known for their low failure rate and excellent reliability. So, along the way, apart from the tanks destroyed by the enemy, few had been scrapped. Therefore, the number of tanks at the front could be described as terrifying.

Such a massive number of tanks had made Akado’s forces invincible. He finally no longer had to worry about being swamped by the terrifying sea of Soviet tanks. But the most direct price for this was that the consumption of oil resources was also terrifyingly large.

It wasn’t that Akado hadn’t tried. In peacetime, he had played the trump card of Middle Eastern oil, single-handedly pushing for the exploitation of its resources. And it was for this reason that he had secretly accumulated a large reserve of crude oil. The 5 million tons of crude oil he had stockpiled at one point had won him the support of the Wehrmacht generals at the time.

The subsequent blitzkrieg of Poland and the hard-fought battle in France had both ended in incredible victories, which had also caused Germany’s oil reserves not to decrease, but to increase, reaching a historically exaggerated 11 million tons. France’s swift defeat had not only brought the Germans foreign exchange reserves like gold and a large amount of industrial facilities, but also unimaginable strategic resources.

Relying on these strategic resources, the Battle of the English Channel was successfully fought, the strategic plan for the invasion of Britain was implemented, and Germany completed the construction of the “Ultimate Atlantic Wall,” eliminating the possibility of a two-front war for itself and completely finishing its Western European strategy.

But starting from the Battle of Britain, Germany’s oil reserves had begun a downward trend of being unable to make ends meet. Although slow, it was still breathtaking. The British had left almost no strategic materials for the Germans. After the battle, Germany’s crude oil reserves had dropped to 10 million tons.

At this time, in order to improve the people’s standard of living, Germany had carried out a series of domestic economic stimulus reforms. Akado, as the Führer, had promised that every family would have its own car, and that Germany would begin to popularize high-end luxury electrical appliances like televisions in 1940. This had led to a large-scale development of Germany’s civilian industry and had also pushed domestic oil consumption to a new level.

By the end of 1938, Germany’s crude oil reserves had dropped to 8 million tons. The Wehrmacht units stationed in France and Germany began to cut their strategic fuel reserves. In early 1939, the navy also had to join the ranks of “tightening their belts.” The sorties of the carrier fleet were reduced to twice a year.

Because the war was proceeding too quickly, the oil investments in Syria had yet to see any returns, and Rommel’s Middle East campaign had been forced to a standstill due to the bloody battles on the Eastern Front. Because of the growth and development of domestic industrial capacity, Germany’s crude oil had dwindled to a worrying level.

True, the current total crude oil reserves were still nearly 3 million tons more than at the beginning of the war. But the current scale of the German army and the area of German-controlled territory had expanded by several, even a dozen times. The industrial production capacity was also more than five times what it was before. In this state, the crude oil that was originally estimated to last a year would probably be burned up in just five, or even three months.

“Field Marshal von Brauchitsch,” Akado said, feeling a headache coming on as he thought about these energy issues. He looked at the nominal head of the army and asked, “If we were to relax some of the restrictions on Vlasov and let him form a new Ukrainian army group to fill the gaps on the southern front, would that be effective?”

Brauchitsch was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and thought. Finally, he spoke with some hesitation, answering the Führer’s question. “My Führer, doing so would indeed alleviate some of the problems, but… as for how much, the General Staff and I would have to assess it before we can give a result.”

“The plan will proceed in two parts!” Akado made a decision, then stood up and walked to Rundstedt’s side. He pointed at the map and said, “Have the three new army groups, N, O, and P, each detach some of their forces and give them all to Küchler! Let his N Army Group form up its combat effectiveness first, then send it directly to the southern front to ensure that the Battle of the Caucasus can be concluded smoothly. As long as we capture the Caucasian oil-producing regions, we can improve our current passive situation.”

He then turned his head back to Rundstedt and said, “Field Marshal von Rundstedt, the attack in the central region will be completely halted after the capture of Smolensk. The next focus will be on capturing the Caucasus. This is a compromise that must be made for the sake of oil.”

The more Akado spoke, the more frustrated he became. In the entire conference room, only he knew what he was talking about, and what it meant. He was repeating the order that Hitler had given, to give up the plan to attack Moscow and to have the entire army turn south—to fight an “economic war.”

There were still differences. Hitler’s southern campaign had not been on the same scale as Akado’s now. The strategic objective of capturing the Caucasian oil fields was not as certain for Akado now. What was more reassuring was that Akado’s current war situation was much better than what Hitler had faced back then.

It was precisely for this reason that Akado dared to fight this battle. If he were to walk the same old path as Hitler, he would now be considering suing for peace. Another thing that made him feel he had the capital to gamble was the time. He had the entire spring and summer to spend in the Caucasus, which was much more time than the German army had in the other timeline.

“Generals! Victory or defeat rests on this one move!” Akado said, pointing at the map. “Capture the Caucasus! Crush Stalin!”

Rustle! All the generals present stood up, saluted, and said, “Yes! My Führer!”

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